


Koinu

by late_night_writer



Series: A Pirate's Life For Me [3]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Abandonment, F/M, Gen, during Timeskip, less than ideal housing situation, parenting, single parent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:40:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24796327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/late_night_writer/pseuds/late_night_writer
Summary: "I'm not looking to be a mother right now. So, if you don't take it, I don't know where it'll end up."Franky had been cast aside by his own parents as if he were nothing. It was in this moment that he knew he wasn't about to do the same thing to his own son.
Series: A Pirate's Life For Me [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1790992
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	Koinu

**November 1523: Karakuri Island**

“I’m not keeping it.”

The baby was laying on the bed about six inches away from his mother, bundled in a blanket and sleeping soundly. He was a quiet little thing, only giving a few little baby grunts every once in a while as if to let everyone around him know that he was all right.

Franky reached out to stroke the baby’s face with his index finger. “No?”

Livy flipped her long dark hair over her shoulder and tucked her legs under her body. She didn’t look like someone who’d had a baby just an hour before. “No,” she said. “I didn’t exactly plan for this when I came here, you know?”

“What’re you gonna do with him, then?”

Franky couldn’t see much of Livy in the baby. She could easily walk away from him and claim she’d never met him before, let alone that she’d carried him in her womb for the past nine months. Since he’d been born, Franky wasn’t even sure Livy had looked at the baby.

“Tomorrow, I’m gonna head out. I’ve been on Karakuri for far too long anyway. I’ve gotten everything I can out of this island.” She motioned in the direction of the baby, still not turning her head to look at him. “I’ll take it with me to the next island and… leave it on someone’s doorstep or something. Let someone adopt it.”

“You know he’s a boy now,” Franky said. “You can stop calling him ‘it’.”

Livy sighed. “I didn’t even want to do this in the first place, Franky, I think I have the right to call it whatever I want.”

There were a few beats of silence between the two of them before Franky spoke again.

“So… you’ll leave him for someone? Just like that?”

“Yes.”

Franky didn’t like the idea of him sitting on a doorstep waiting for someone to pick him up. What if no one wanted him? Who was this strange baby that someone had left behind? Where did he come from?

“Are you sure you don’t want to keep him?” Franky asked. “He’s a cute little boy. You should look at him.”

Livy shook her head. “I’m not looking to be a mother right now. So, if you don’t wanna keep it, I don’t know where it’ll end up.”

Her saying this made Franky think back to his own childhood, his biological parents tossing him over the edge of their ship.

“You’re a nuisance,” they’d said. 

Franky looked at his own son, asleep, no idea that his mother was already leaving him behind. He hadn’t even done anything wrong. He was being quiet; he’d hardly even cried when he was born. The fact that he existed was a nuisance to Livy. It was that moment he decided he wasn’t going to discard his own flesh and blood.

Franky picked up the baby. He was absolutely miniscule in Franky’s meaty arms. “I’ll keep him,” Franky said. “I won’t let you throw him out like he’s nothing.”

Livy shrugged. “Suit yourself,” she said. “Just get it out of here.”

The next morning, when Franky went to check the harbor, Livy was gone. There was no sign that a boat had ever been there in the first place, the water lapping peacefully at the rocks. He had a feeling he would never see her again.

Vegapunk’s lab wasn’t exactly suited for housing a newborn, but Franky made do with what the space provided. An old metal crate became the baby’s temporary cot—examined to make sure there were no sharp edges, of course. 

“Here you are, _koinu_.” Franky set the baby in his makeshift cot. “I’ll have to get you something better soon, but this is the best I have for now.” He rubbed the back of his neck, looking around the lab. “If I knew Livy planned on giving you up, I would’ve made some things for you sooner.”

Right away, Franky started on building a real cradle for the boy. Compared to building a ship, a cradle was easy; he modeled it in the shape of a tiny pirate ship and mounted it atop two pieces of curved wood so it would rock the boy to sleep. Once it was finished, Franky transferred the boy from the metal crate to his new cradle.

“There, that wasn’t so hard!” 

The baby sucked on his lower lip, stretching his arms near the side of his head. He gave a content whimper.

“I should probably think of a name for you,” Franky said. “But for now I’ll just call you _koinu._ That’ll be my little nickname for you, huh?”

The boy was a relatively quiet baby, only crying every few hours when he needed to be fed or changed. Finding milk proved to be a problem—Franky knew better than to try to give the boy any of his cola or plain water, so he ventured into the island while carrying the baby in a sling to get some.

“Maybe I could call you Tomas, after Tom- _san_ ,” Franky said as he ventured down the mountain. “You don’t look much like a Tomas, though. I guess I’ll have to be a little more creative.”

At the bottom of the mountain, Franky ran into Kitton and Taroimo. 

“Franky!” Kitton greeted. “What are you doing away from the lab?”

“Kitton! Yow!” Franky adjusted the sling. “Check this out! Livy left the baby with me.”

Kitton’s eyes widened. “AH! Franky, is it only wearing a blanket? It’ll freeze to death!”

“What? But I’m not even cold at all!”

“You’re a cyborg, Franky!”

Franky followed Kitton back to his house, where he set the baby in front of the fire to warm him up. Franky kept a close eye on the boy, reaching over and stroking his cheek to make sure he was alright.

“So, Livy left after all?” Kitton’s grandfather asked. “That’s a shame. I was really hoping she’d grow attached to the poor thing.”

“Well, we don’t need her, anyway.” The baby shifted and gurgled as if to agree.

“Give me a minute, I’ll see if I can find you some of Kitton’s old clothes. They might be a little big, but it’s better than carrying him around in just a blanket.”

“Have you named him yet?” Kitton asked as he patted the baby on the stomach.

“Not yet,” Franky said. “I’m still thinking about it.”

Franky left Kitton’s house with piles of Kitton’s old baby clothes, the baby now dressed in a warm coat, wool pants, thick socks, knit hat, and another blanket. He appeared quite content, his cheeks rosy. Once he got milk from the island, it was pretty easy to keep fresh (Franky just ended up sticking most of it in the snow).

The baby remained nameless for a little while. Franky tested out a few names, none of which stuck for very long, so he was mostly known as _koinu_. It wasn’t until the little boy was a month old that Franky came up with a name he thought fit.

“How about ‘Raphiel’?” Franky asked. “That’s a pretty cool name for you. You look like a Raphiel.”

And thus, the baby finally had a name. He wasn’t easy to take care of when it was just Franky by himself; he definitely interfered with Franky studying Vegapunk’s work, but the image of Raphiel lying on someone’s doorstep with no one wanting to claim him was enough for Franky to forgive the difficulties. He figured it would be a lot easier once the crew was reunited again—raising a child on a pirate ship would never be an easy task, but the more people to help out, the better.

The first month was definitely a challenge. He needed to be fed every few hours and started to cry even when he wasn’t hungry. He slept, but not for long stretches of time, and definitely not throughout the night. The last eight months Franky spent in the lab slowed to a crawl.

By the time Franky’s two years in the lab were up, Raphiel had grown significantly. His hair had grown in blue, like Franky’s. He had four little white teeth. He could say "papa". He weighed twenty-five pounds and was thirty inches tall; on the larger side for a boy his age, but given that Franky was over seven feet tall, that was to be expected. He could sit up on his own as well as crawl, but still preferred for Franky to hold him.

“Okay, Raphiel,” Franky said as he lifted the boy into his arms. “It’s time to go.”

Franky and Raphiel departed Karakuri Island for the last time, heading for the Sabaody Archipelago. Franky wondered what the rest of the crew would think when they arrived.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure if Franky would even be able to father a child, given all of his cyborg modifications, but for a moment let's just pretend he can. Also, if you want to see what Raphiel will look like as a child, I posted a picture of him [here](https://www.deviantart.com/late-night-writer/art/Raphiel-847338823)!


End file.
